10:13 pm
by Tewi
Summary: Whoever thought that not being able to feel pain was a blessing obviously never led the life of a teenage mutant ninja turtle.


Written in response to a challenge at Stealthy Stories issued by Efiwyvan (or known here as: AC Poole or AJ3). The muse hit me on the head, and hit me hard, so here it is. Sorry if the tense is confusing, hard to read, or just plain annoying; but that's how the story is written.

And no, it's not really angstyish but I wanted it to be-just didn't know how to achieve it. This story actually moves pretty slowly-I'm working on my ability to add more detail and not rush through things so bare with me.

Disclaimer: Does the word **fan**fiction mean anything? If not…well, (sadly-to me anyway) I don't own 'em. Nor do I own a furby or the news (not that I want to). I do own the green powder, Liz Talles-Dounne (no, not a big character and not a Mary-Sue), Bafe, and the Grape Bones though. Not much, just a bunch or random crap that I needed for the story.

* * *

1:30 a.m. Mikey had gone to bed roughly half an hour ago. The sound of his door sleepily being shut, thus making more noise than any of the turtle ninja did when alert, had woken him up. He had stayed up, debating whether or not to check on his purple-banded brother.

Lately Donatello had not been getting any sleep in his room, well actually, in his bed. Since technically speaking his lab was _his_ room… Not that he didn't usually do that, but usually it didn't make him cranky. Over the past few days the tech turtle had become more Raph like. And he didn't like it. He was worried about the genius turtle; he was worried about his little brother.

Don wouldn't speak to any of them, not even Sensei about it, but he assumed that Don was working on some project and just couldn't finish it or get it the way he wanted. 1:35 a.m. Finally he made his mind up. He was too worried about his brother to just sit here any longer. He threw his blanket off and silently left his room and, unlike Mikey, opened and shut his door without a noise.

Without much trouble he made his way to Don's lab…and ran straight into the lab door.

"Ouch."

How embarrassing! But at least no one had seen, and it didn't seem like Don had heard the quiet thump or ouch.

He rubbed his beak and opened the door. Why was it so dark in Don's lab? He waited a moment for his eyes to at least partially adjust to the darkness within the normally lit up room. He didn't want to flick on the lights though, lest he make his little brother too mad or temporarily rob him of his sight. He guessed it was so dark because Don's computer wasn't on and that was what usually bathed the room in a soft glow, a soft glow that was now missing. But if the computer wasn't on the lights should be, if Don had in fact been working on some project. He didn't think about it too much though, it didn't matter as long as Don got some decent rest and stopped acting so snappy towards everyone else.

He slowly made his way over to the desk and chair where Don would normally be found. His hand searched, in the ever present darkness, for something, anything. It found a keyboard. Good, he'd made his way over to Don's desk without knocking anything thing over or tripping over some tool.

His hand moved over the keyboards bumps…and knocked something over.

"Aww, shell…" Found its way out of his mouth followed by, "Don's gonna be so mad!"

He bent down so he was eye level with the keyboard and squinted. He couldn't see anything. His hand searched around. A powder. He'd spilled some kind of powder. Hopefully he could clean it up.

Using the hand that wasn't lightly covered in the powder he touched the chair that Don was found occupying most of the time. It felt light. He swung it around. Empty. He'd have to check Don's room to make sure, but he was fairly certain that Don was finally getting his good nights rest.

He had to clean up his mess first though. Mostly through memory he made his way to the kitchen and grabbed the bottled air that Mikey had, for some odd Mikey reason, insisted they needed. Why it was in the kitchen he didn't know. But oh well. He was thankful for it, and for Mikey's odd thinking tonight.

As he entered Don's lab he switched on the light, now knowing that, except for him, the room was empty. He could now see a brilliant green powder spilled over Don's keyboard and even some on the floor. A plastic container, not completely unlike a test tube, laid stuck between some keys on the keyboard. That's right; he didn't remember much noise from anything falling. That was why.

He set the bottled air on the desk the computer was sitting on, and using his already powdery hand, swept as much of the powder back into the container that still had some powder left in it. He tried to grab what was on the floor up but sadly his fingers were just too big. He then, using his clean hand, used the bottled air to clean the powder out of in between the keys.

Next he had to run back to the kitchen to grab a rag, get some water on it, and use it to wipe up the remaining powder, the keyboard, and the surrounding desk. He stood back and admired his handiwork. There was a slight sheen to what he had wiped down, but that would dry. Looked like nothing happened. He had even set the container back to where he thought he had felt it before (stupidly) knocking it down. He was satisfied.

On his way back to the kitchen he sneezed, and without thinking, used the hand that had gotten Don's powder on it. Still without a second thought he returned the rag to the kitchen, washed it, set it in its rightful place, washed his hands and face in the kitchen sink with soap; just to be careful, and finally dried himself with a nearby kitchen towel. What his brother didn't know wouldn't hurt him…

By this time he was very tired and wanted, very badly, to go back to bed. He remembered to turn off the light he had turned on in the lab and made his way up the stairs and to Don's room. He banged his foot on the stair before realized that, yes, he was at the stairs. He absentmindedly rubbed his foot but took no notice to the fact that he didn't feel any pain. He assumed he was just too darn tired-he had had a very grueling work-out earlier. He walked up the stairs and listened at Don's door. Yep, there were his brother's quiet snores. Happily he made his way to his room and, still unlike Mikey, opened and shut his door with no noise whatsoever. He was out the moment his head hit the pillow, half his body under the covers and half of it dangling off his bed, with no covers to protect them from the cold.

* * *

He groggily opened his eyes. His hand searched for the alarm clock, his mind hoping the annoying beeping sound would stop, and his body sore. He blinked a few times and realized he was on his floor. He groaned and sat up, finally able to hit the button on his alarm clock, the silence settling nicely over his ears. 6:15 a.m.

He stretched, still sore from sleeping on the hard concrete floor when his bed was only a few inches away. Yawning he made his way out of his room to the kitchen, looking forward to his first cup of tea this day. His brothers didn't get why he enjoyed tea in the morning (or at all really) but he didn't get why Don needed so much coffee to get started in the morning, why Raph, who was ticked-off enough as it was (not to be mean to him), wasn't a morning person, or why Mikey insisted on dunking gummi-bear and marshmallow pizza in a bowl of the surgariest cereal they had with donuts sprinkled on top and sitting in soda or on some days: in chocolate milk. But he let them be even if they did bug him about his tea sometimes. Because as everyone knows, tea is an old person drink.

His brothers weren't even there but he rolled his eyes all the same. That's all he ever did when they started that up. He believed they were just doing it to see if they could finally get a reaction. They never did though.

An hour later, which included a piece of toast, three cups of earl grey tea, and Master Splinter getting up his brothers finally got up and started joining him and their Sensei in the kitchen. 7:17 a.m. Donnie was the first of his younger brothers to join them.

"Hey Don. Saw you finally decided to rest in your bed and not on your keyboard," accompanied by a rare, playful grin.

"Heh. Yeah." He grabbed a cup of hazelnut cream coffee, already finished as he had started it a little earlier. "I feel much better too. I haven't finished what I was working on but I saw how worried everyone was. Plus I felt bad when I realized I had started snapping at you guys…sorry about that by the way."

He blinked as Don mentioned his project but showed no other reaction. Both he and Splinter smiled at Don's apology though. Splinter nodded to show he understood and harbored no ill feelings.

"It's cool Don. I'm just glad you finally got some rest!"

"Mmm," was the only response.

7:33 a.m. Mikey was the next brother down. He smiled happily at his brothers, already quite awake. Immediately he began pulling out all of the sugary things he would need for his unhealthy breakfast.

"Sleep well Mike?"

"Mmm, sure did! How 'bout you guys?"

"Fine," the fact that some time during the night he had fallen to the floor without waking up went unmentioned. Details were not needed in his opinion.

"Actually, I finally got a good nights rest. Sorry for snapping at you earlier Mikey…" Don looked into his coffee, slightly ashamed.

Mikey brightened, happy to have his pacifistic brother back. "Awesome dude! I'm glad." And he was.

7:49 a.m. Raph finally made his way down to join his family for breakfast. He didn't grab anything, just sat down. He set toast on a plate in front of him. Raph looked up, nodding as a thank you, and slowly ate the toast dripping in strawberry and grape jam. There was no conversation since Raph was not a morning person and talking too early just made him mad.

8:15 a.m. As soon as the 4 from the 14 turned to a 5 to make the 15 he ushered them into the dojo where Splinter had been meditating for the last five minutes. The brother's respectively sat in front of him. His, their Sensei led them through some simple exercises first. Minimal complaining but they were all sweating and lightly panting. Then, moving away from their normal routine Master Splinter decided to have them spar with weapons. Only one thing different from normal weapons spar; they had to choose and fight with a weapon that wasn't their own and wasn't their brothers. Actually the weapon couldn't be a weapon from the weapon's rack. It had to be a random object that wasn't sharp that they would wield as a weapon.

Mikey decided first. His face lit up and he ran from the room only to return, moments later, with tongs in one hand and a frying pan in the other. Don decided next. The thoughtful look never left his face as he left. He came back, an extension cord that he gripped using both hands. Raph made up his mind right after Don walked back in the dojo. An evil glint entered his eyes as he walked from the room. Almost afraid of what he would return with he forgot to think about the weapon _he_ would choose. Raph sauntered into the dojo with a 5-pound weight in one hand and a furby in the other one.

"HEY! That's my furby from my room!" Mikey cried out as he recognized the much hated toy-well not that _Mikey_ hated it.

"I know. But it wasn't in your room…"

Raphael and Michelangelo looked at Master Splinter. Mikey was hoping that Splinter would deem it cheating for Raph to use something that wasn't even his. Raph was hoping Splinter would think the toy was annoying and allow him to use it.

"Well, it was not in your room Michelangelo," Splinter gently said, but inside his mind he was remembering when Mikey had first gotten the toy and how annoying and creepy he found it. Though he would never admit it he was secretly hoping the furby would be destroyed.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Mikey cried out dramatically and fell to his knees, "my own Sensei has turned against me."

He noticed Mikey stood up but didn't take his eyes off the furby, perhaps hoping to grab it from its captor. He realized everyone else was staring at him; he had yet to choose a 'weapon'. He turned and walked out of the dojo, still no 'weapon' in mind. He walked to his room and looked around. Sighing, he finally picked out his 'weapon' for today's odd practice.

As he re-entered the dojo he slightly enjoyed the collective gasps from his brothers and the quizzical stare his Sensei was giving him. He did wonder why no one had stared at Raph's furby choice. Maybe because they all wanted it broken and out of their lives.

"Dude…are you sure?"

"Leo, are ya nuts?"

"Leo; do you realize what you're holding? What you've picked as your weapon?" The word weapon was accompanied with air quotes.

"If that is your choice, my son. Donatello and Michelangelo, you are paired. Raphael and Leonardo, you are paired." They took their stances. "Begin."

9:14 a.m. They began. He defensively held his 'weapon' up. Raphael shook his head at him. He could tell he had no idea why he would pick a weapon such as a miniature writing pen. But people always said the pen was mightier than the sword. And his weapon was a katana, a variation of the sword. He did well with his real weapon so he should do great with this temporary weapon. He knew it didn't make much sense but he was prepared to get whatever he was supposed to get out of this lesson. Although even he didn't believe that his mini pen could beat Raph's weight…but maybe he could beat the furby. Put them all but Mikey out of their furby-caused misery.

Raph lunged and feinted to the right. He immediately went into a roll and popped up behind his brother who swung the hand with the 5 pounds around. He did a matrix-like backbend and brought his leg up to kick his brother's knee. Raph dropped the furby, just for the moment, and rolled backwards. He immediately dove at his brother, pen at the ready.

Raph was ready. He rolled to the side and brought the weight crashing into his brother's shell. Raph got ahead of himself and tried to straddle his shell and bring his hands up to a position where they would only hurt him. He heaved himself to his side and bucked his brother off. With an oomph Raph went with it.

In seconds both brothers were standing, the furby back in Raph's hand. Raph was frustrated before, but now a little angry that he'd had a chance to beat him and couldn't keep it. They lunged again, Raph with an angry roar on his beak. This time they crashed into each other.

Raph had more force and knocked him over. Another chance for Raph to win this; if he could keep his cool. Raph raised the arm with the weight in it, as the furby was now smashed under his shell-he had heard the crunching, and brought it down…on Leo's plastron.

"Oh…oh my god, Leo! I'm sorry. Are you…are you okay?"

His mind told him that at the very least he should feel a slight tingly motion. He wasn't even fazed. He hadn't felt it.

"Yeah, didn't feel a thing."

Raph frowned at him, just knowing that he had to be lying. But he wasn't. And Raph had lost his tempo. He grabbed Raph's shoulders, the weight still sitting on his chest with Raph's slack hand barely holding it, and threw the red-banded brother over his head. The 5-pound weight wasn't in Raph's hand and rolled up his plastron, lightly slamming into his chin. Still felt nothing. He flipped his feet over his head and landed on the stunned Raphael who, for the first time he could remember in his sparring history with Raph, didn't fight back. He clicked his pen so the tip was out and held it at Raph's neck artery.

"You're dead," he calmly stated to his brother.

9:21 a.m. By this time he realized that his whole family was staring at him. His plastron also itched a little.

"What?" He asked, now slightly worried.

"Dude…"

Master Splinter and Don both started to make their way over to him, making him more worried. Don gently helped him up and Master Splinter ran his fingers over his plastron. He finally looked down, and paled a bit.

"Are you alright Leo?"

"Leo…I'm so sorry…I…I didn't realize it would hit you that hard."

"My son, are you sure you are alright?"

There was on biggish crack in his plastron with several spider-webbish cracks branching out from it. It must have been from Raph hitting him with the weight. No wonder he had stopped fighting him. He felt it for himself. He could feel his fingers brush over his would but no pain. The plastron had not cracked deep enough for blood to pour or even seep out but he should still feel something.

"Guys…I think something is wrong…I, I can't feel any pain. No pain whatsoever."

"Why don't you just come to my lab?" Don looked worried. In fact they all did.

"Okay," he knew he had to tell his younger brother about the powder. Maybe it had something to do with what was happening.

9:24 a.m. Don led him to his lab and set him down on their infirmary bed. Donnie pulled out many bottles and sprayed some stuff on his chest. Then Donatello rubbed some cream on it. Finally his purple-banded brother wrapped it with some special gauze that he had invented while he just held his hands over his head.

9:28 a.m. Q and A time. Confession time. Don applied a little pressure to his chest and made sure the bandage would hold. The tech turtle clicked his tongue and wrote some stuff down on a piece of paper that was currently attached to a clipboard. He knew his genius brother was stalling. It was making him nervous. So he spoke.

"Don…I came in here last night to force you to sleep in your bed. It was dark and it didn't even hit me that you might not be in here. I actually made my way to your desk, but unfortunately…something was on it. There was a container full of bright green powder and I knocked it over."

"Oh, yeah, don't worry about that. It was the project I was working on but it shouldn't have any affect on you. I didn't quite get it to work," Don looked and sounded sad.

"What was it? If you don't mind my asking," he added as an afterthought.

"Hmm, oh. It was supposed to be like a sedative, so, ya know, we wouldn't have to…creatively obtain them. But a little stronger-would've come in handy after the final battle with Karai. It was going to be specifically for those kinds of things. Especially since Karai is out there and out there with a vengeance. I didn't even try to make a weaker one, I was just so caught up in my excitement I skipped that. Probably would have helped me."

"What was wrong with it? Are you just going to give it up? It does sound like a good idea-not meaning to put any pressure on you…" He did think it sounded like a good idea.

"I'm not quite sure what was wrong with it. I'm pretty sure I should have gotten all the ingredients needed. It's like I'm missing the magic button," Donatello shook his head. "I am not giving it up though. I'm just gonna take a small break from it-since, ya know, it made me a wee bit cranky. But enough of me and my project! We're here cause of your injury!" He nodded sheepishly. "So, you don't feel anything," the turtle inventor asked, pencil at the ready. Notes for later research…for him. He felt a bit guilty.

"Nope," he shook his head to emphasis his point.

"What do you feel?"

"Umm…I guess I would describe it…as an itching."

"So your plastron is just itchy?"

"Yeah, just where it's cracked."

"Weird… Now-"

The lab door opened and Raphael, Mikey, and even Master Splinter fell in, interrupting the scientific ninja. Actually, Master Splinter jumped over his two fallen sons and landed gracefully in the lab. Donnie looked a bit shocked and a bit amused.

"How long have you guys been standing there?"

"Oh, they've been here ever since we started," he felt they deserved to know what was going on so he hadn't said anything. He didn't realize that his Sensei had been listening too. He guessed that Master Splinter was just worried.

"Wow…"

"Yeah, so do ya mind if we stay here?" Mikey added puppy dog eyes to his plea.

A sigh. "I guess not." An awkward silence. "Anyway, like I was saying before I was rudely interrupted," innocent whistles in the background but he could tell Don wasn't really mad, "have you done anything odd lately? Anything you normally don't do?"

"Hmmm…not that I can recall."

"Anything at all?"

"Mmm, nope!"

"Oookay…umm, how about anything strange you've eaten or even drank?"

"Just the normal stuff."

"Mikey's pizza?"

"Eww and no."

"HEY! My pizza's good!"

"Whatever you say Mikey…" "I think it's actually harmful to your body." "It's the most disgusting thing on the face of the Earth!" The three brothers spoke up at once.

"My sons. If we could get back to the real situation…" Gentle Master Splinter guiding them back to him.

"Okay. How 'bout any weird dreams even?"

"Well…I had a dream that Mikey decided to give up pizza…"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Say it isn't so, bro!"

Raphael laughed out loud. "That is weird. Don't act so dumb Mikey, it was only a dream!"

"That all?"

"Yep. Nice dreamless nights."

"What did you feel when the weight hit your chest."

"Well…I guess it was like a slight tickling motion. Not much though."

"Okay. Any other incidents? Something that you might have forgotten?"

He thought about it. "Actually yes. I remember now. I was going upstairs, after cleaning up the powder, to make sure that you were in bed and not kidnapped or anything, and I stubbed my toe on the stairs. Only it didn't hurt. It felt like…it's hard to explain. I felt my toe hit something and on reflex I pulled it up and rubbed it…but there wasn't any pain. But I still felt it happen."

"Strange… This is all too strange. I can't think of anything else. I'll do some research and let you guys know what I find, if it's okay with Sensei."

"Of course it is. Practice was over long ago."

"Yes! Video game time," Michelangelo rushed out of the lab, excited to get started.

"I'm goin' up top. Promised Casey I'd meet 'im." No one stopped Raph.

"Leonardo?"

"Yes Sensei?"

"You are banned from practicing."

"But I don't feel anything, Master Splinter!"

"Practicing may widen or deepen the cracks. It is dangerous. Feeling no pain is not a blessing but a curse, especially to a young ninja such as yourself."

He sighed. He knew he couldn't win this one. "Hai, Sensei," and a bow.

9:53 a.m. Mikey, in his concerned state about him, had forgotten all about the beloved furby. He grabbed the squashed toy and quickly disposed of it. He placed it under several other items in the trash; just in case Mikey remembered and went searching for it. He returned to the dojo and decided to meditate.

9:59 a.m. He quickly entered the meditative trance. He stayed there, oblivious to everything else. He didn't move when his Sensei joined, and later, left him. He didn't notice when Mikey came in, desperately searching for his furby and tried to question him. He didn't flinch when Raph barreled and started to beat the crap out of the punching bag. He didn't hear the argument and fight between Raph and Mike. He didn't break out of his meditative trance when Don tried to come 'wake' him for dinner. He didn't care when Don left in a bit of a huff when he didn't react to Donnie's attempts to 'wake' him.

8:17 p.m. He finally awoke. He stretched, refreshed from his meditating session. He tried to stand but found he couldn't. It was an odd feeling, knowing he had legs but couldn't stand. His right leg wobbled and he came crashing back down on the meditating mat; right on his beak. Still he felt no pain. Just an odd prickling sensation.

He rolled over, sat up, and began to gently rub his legs awake. 8:24 p.m. His legs finally decided to be nice to him. He left the dojo and quickly located his brothers. He could hear Donatello furiously typing away on the computer in his lab. Michelangelo was right there on the couch, watching the beginning of some old horror flick. Raphael had some music blaring in his room. Raphael himself was in the kitchen, licking a red Popsicle like it had done some crime and he was beating it up by licking it to death.

Master Splinter was harder to locate. But Sensei was where Sensei usually was; in his room, behind those paper doors. He knew because there was a candle flickering behind the door somewhere. He decided to go to the kitchen. He glanced at the microwave clock. 8:26 p.m. Wow. He had missed dinner.

"Plate's in the microwave."

He opened the microwave and sure enough it was. He pressed in what sounded like a reasonable time to start with, pressed start, and sat down, across from Raphael.

"Thanks."

"I am sorry ya know. I didn't realize that the weight could even crack your plastron."

"You were forgiven before it even happened."

"… So, you really can't feel anything? I mean, no pain?"

"Yep." The microwave beeped. He got up and felt the food. Not hot enough. He put in another number and pressed start again. This time he stayed by the microwave.

"Is it weird to feel no pain?"

"Yeah, it's way weird. I kinda took it as a good thing though."

"Is it not?"

"Master Splinter says it's a curse, especially to a young ninja."

"Yeah, probably." Raph finished the Popsicle. Raph got up and went to his room to, hopefully, turn down the music. Raph didn't. It got louder. Oh well he thought.

Not to long after the microwave beeped again. This time the food was ready and even a little too hot. He got himself a drink, some raspberry juice, while he waited for the dinner to cool a bit. As he was waiting Mikey walked in.

"Hey dude, you meditated for, like, ever."

"Yeah, I didn't realize how much time had gone by."

Mikey stuck some popcorn in the microwave. "Yeah, we realized you hadn't eaten any lunch or anything and Don couldn't get you up for dinner so we just left your plate in the microwave. That must have been some trance you were in," his youngest brother sounded impressed.

"I guess there was too much to think about and I didn't want to come back and face it. I didn't hear anything that went on."

"Impressive. Hey, how's your chest?"

"Still don't feel anything besides an itching. Though I guess that's a bit annoying seeing as I've scratched the heck out of it and it doesn't go away," as he said that he realized that once again, he was scratching at his plastron.

"Heh. Probably shouldn't let Don see you do that."

"Thanks for the advice." His hands gripped his silverware and he started eating.

"What's it like? Not being able to feel pain?"

"Weird. I do all these things and I know I can get hurt but it won't hurt me. Really weird. I even thought it was a good thing at first. I still kind of do."

"Lemme guess. Master Splinter told you it wasn't a good thing."

"Good guess. You hit the nail right on the head."

The microwave finally beeped. Michelangelo took the popcorn out. "See ya."

He didn't reply, just kept on eating. Don never left his lab, seemingly getting much headway. The rest of the night went by in slow motion and he just sat there watching it go by. Master Splinter came into the kitchen at some point and he fixed him some tea. They didn't really have a conversation and soon the old rat left him alone again.

11: 03 p.m. He decided to go to bed. He wished all his brothers a good night and told them all not to stay up too late and to get some rest. Just like the night before as soon as his head hit the pillow he was sound asleep. This time though, he made sure his whole body was resting nicely on the bed, all of it under the light covers.

* * *

The alarm went off close to where his ear was. He brought his hand up and slammed it down on the clock. He let his eyes stay closed and lay there on his bed for a few moments. 6:21 a.m. He opened his eyes and rolled out of bed. He sleepily dragged his feet along the ground and down to the kitchen.

He absentmindedly rubbed his hand over the cracks in his plastron, feeling their roughness with his calloused hands. He set some water on for his morning tea and looked towards the dojo. Just a little workout couldn't hurt…could it? If he stopped when the water whistled Master Splinter would never know. And he probably wouldn't be allowed to practice today.

His mind made up he made his way to the dojo and unsheathed his katana. He began with some extremely simple kata's that required no thought since he knew them so well. Without even thinking about it he quickly moved on to another set of kata's, a bit more difficult than the last, but still pretty easy. And just as his mind found a comfortable niche to set back and watch his performance the kettle went off.

He sadly sheathed his katana and hurried to the kitchen to shut the shrill noise up. Half a cup of his lemon tea later his eyes wandered back to the dojo. Exercising just felt so good…so why should he have to stop. 6:34 a.m. He set his tea down and went back into the dojo. He skipped the kata's he already went through and a few after that. He went into a mildly complicated kata and was soon on his way to more complicated kata's.

7:02 a.m. He finally realized he should stop. He didn't feel like he had worked out and so he kept going. He had a sweat-soaked bandana that disagreed with the fact that he had gotten no work. He also felt a dripping on his chest. He looked down.

"Aw shell! Shell, shell, shell, shell, shell!" He growled under his breath, hoping he could fix this so nobody would notice. His plastron was bleeding, the redness running in rivulets down his chest and all he could feel was a greater need to itch and liquid running down his chest plate. This was so not good.

He rushed to the kitchen and grabbed a new rag and wet it, quickly soaking up the redness. He also undid the gauze Don had wrapped him in yesterday. They would need to be changed. How the blood had managed to drip through he didn't know. He applied pressure and snuck off to Donnie's lab. He searched around and quickly found the first aid supplies.

He located a big ace bandage and placed it on first, hoping to remove it before Don had a chance to check on it-the technical genius hadn't placed one on yesterday. Then he tightly wrapped it with the purple-banded turtle's gauze. Placing everything where he had found it he went to the bathroom mirror. Looked good as new. He quickly returned to the kitchen, washed the rag, and washed his bandana. The washrag he set out to dry…in his room. All he could do for his bandana was squeeze it out and hope it looked dry enough.

7:11 a.m. He sat down just as his Sensei entered the kitchen. They nodded their heads to each other and he got up to pour his Sensei a cup of his tea.

"How did you sleep, my son?"

"Fantastic. And you?" He tried not to flinch as he realized his half a cup of tea that was left was cold.

"I am well rested. I trust you did not get up to practice any time?"

"No," he looked guiltily down, studying his tea.

He could feel his father's eyes searching him but he took another gulp of his cold tea and then hesitantly started back at his father. Master Splinter finally stopped searching and just as he'd hoped his Sensei hadn't been able to detect anything. They sat in silence for a while longer.

8:15 a.m. As soon as the clock changed from 14 to 15 he ushered his three brothers into the dojo. He knew he wasn't allowed to practice but that didn't mean he was banned from the dojo. Master Splinter set him on meditating as he led the others through their morning warm-up.

He was upset that he couldn't practice but didn't complain or speak up. Instead he sucked it up and calmly breathed in. 8:19 a.m. He entered the meditative trance. And there he stayed till his Sensei carefully shook him out of it, half an hour later. He was allowed to do some mild stretching. Nothing to strenuous for his chest though. 8:58 a.m.

He was dismissed and told to get some rest. Furious at himself because he wasn't allowed any real practice just because of the fact that he couldn't feel pain he went to make some tea to calm himself down. He set the water on and went to the living room and switched the T.V. on. He turned on the news. Nothing too good. There was only a new reporter nervously talking about a new gang that had popped up and quickly became a threat. They called themselves the Grape Bones. The reporter, her name was Liz Talles-Dounne (Towel-iss Dough-nn), said it was guessed they were supposed to be the Grave Stones but they had been heard wrong.

They had done a few robberies and most recently raped three sturdy young men who had been out clubbing together. He wanted to be more wary of them…but with a name like Grape Bones what kind of a threat could they be? Still, he supposed he should tell his brothers later. Just as Liz started to give a description of their tattoo and what they normally wore the kettle whistled out.

He retrieved a cup of tea, again lemon, and sat back down. Liz was still on, not very far into her report on who to look out for. He decided it was always good to have information and left the channel where it was.

"-normal thug like clothes. Ripped jeans, plenty of piercings, and the like. Their tattoo is interesting in the fact it seems to have nothing to do with anything. It's located on the back of their neck, sometimes covered by their hair. It's appears to be purple spherical shapes making up an X. Some have debated that the small spheres are grapes and they are making up two bones-like the Jolly Roger but without the skull.

"The gang is also unique in the fact that it seems to be made mostly of young women. No reports of men have been filed. Don't let the fact that they are women make you think they are any less dangerous though. They are said to carry guns and an assortment of other weapons. This is Liz Talles-Dounne warning you to be careful out there. Back to you David."

The screen went to a man in his mid-forties and he zoned out. He was thinking about the Grape Bones. He hadn't even caught the fact that the people who were raped were men and not, like usual, women. A gang of mostly women. Who knew? The Purple Dragons hadn't been much of a threat and their gang was comprised of mostly males. Maybe this Grape Bones gang would be more trouble…

9:37 a.m. Master Splinter decided to dismiss Don, Raph, and Mikey. He should speak to them about this new gang before he forgot. He switched off the T.V.

"Hey guys. How was practice," he asked, not letting his contempt at him not being able to join show through.

"Fine." "Okay." "Hard."

"There was just a report on a new gang. They've become big pretty fast. They've robbed a couple places and just raped three young men."

"Eh. There's new gangs everyday. What makes them…wait. Did you say men?" So, Raphael was more observant than he had been.

"Yeah. This gang is odd because it's made up of mostly women. They don't have any reports of any male members. They're still considered a pretty big threat. And they did just rape three men…"

"Well, what's they're name? What's their tattoo?"

"Yeah. What's the name of their game?" Mikey had chipped in his two cents. They all rolled their eyes.

"They go by…they go by the Grape Bones-" He meant to get more out but he was interrupted by rambunctious laughter.

"The…the…hahaha…Grape…hahaha…Bones? Hahahahahaha." Mikey had actually gotten down on his hands and knees and was holding his stomach. "The Grape Bones?" Another burst of laughter came spouting out of his orange-banded brother.

"Are you sure," Raph asked, his eyebrow cocking and his mouth twitching from trying not to laugh.

"You cannot be serious Leo. Who would take them seriously with a name like Grape Bones? I mean, they did rape three guys yes, but look at Mikey. People must be doing that all over." Donatello looked the most composed but he could see the shaking in his brother's stomach. Don was holding back from laughing, taking the Grape Bones a bit more seriously.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Mikey would you shut it?" Mikey replied by standing up and placing a hand over his mouth, giving a muffled sorry. He continued. "The reporter, Liz, said people were figuring that they had just been misunderstood. The name was probably supposed to be the Grave Stones or something more threatening than the Grape Bones.

"Although their tattoo…well it's apparently a bunch of purple spherical things making up an X. They didn't have a picture to show but they said people were claiming it looked like a bunch of grapes making up two bones to make up the X. Like the Jolly Roger without the skull. They get it on the base of their neck.

"And, of course, they carry guns. I'm guessing they're quite skilled in handling them." The last part he spoke with contempt and sarcasm. Guns were not honorable. It was so easy to get lucky and just hit someone by accident. Plus, what gang didn't carry guns?

"A tattoo…of grapes…" Mikey was out again…laughing so hysterically he thought that his youngest brother would pass out from lack of air.

"Aww, come on Leo. You messin' wid us? 'Cause if you are I'll kill ya. I'd just love to beat the snot outta these creeps…" Raph's threat hung over the air.

"We'll keep an eye out for them on patrol tonight."

"Thanks Don," he gave a relieved sigh. Don at least had gotten what he was aiming for.

They all split up. Mikey rushed to the showers, Raph to go beat up the punching bag-for being slower than Mike, and Don off to his trusty lab, probably to do more research. He was alone again. He sighed; nothing to do. Bored, he turned the T.V. back on; to check out the news again. He went to take a sip of his tea only to find he had already finished it.

9:45 a.m. Nothing good was on the news, only some story about a spelling bee. He went to make more tea. The rest of the day passed much in the same manner. He meditated some and spoke with Master Splinter about his wound. He removed the bandage-secretly and in the bathroom-and luckily; the bleeding had stopped.

12:13 p.m. Mikey had lunch set out. A hearty meal of macaroni and cheese (from the blue box of course) and sandwiches which Mike had, for some odd reason, decided to make instead of forcing them to make their own (grilled cheese for Master Splinter, ham and cheese for him, bologna with salami and mayonnaise for Don, spicy turkey with spicy mustard for Raph, and peanut butter, jelly, marshmallow, and banana sandwich for Mikey). And of course tomato soup for them all to dip their sandwiches in. Only Master Splinter and Mikey dipped. He grated some cheese and mixed it in with his soup. Donnie found some goldfish to drop in his soup. Raphael made a mess crushing up saltine crackers in his soup. By the time his hot-headed brother was done the soup was more cracker than soup. It was a bit of an odd meal but they all ate it happily anyway.

1:00 p.m. Without any ushering from him the ninja brothers made their way to the dojo where Master Splinter had been for only five minutes. They all sat on the mats in front of him. Their Sensei gave his first orders to him.

"Leonardo; I wish for you to go into the kitchen with a piece of paper and a pencil," he paused, maybe for dramatic effect, maybe to get some air, "and draw your brothers as you see them in your mind. You may include yourself and anyone else you wish too."

He cocked his head to the side, confused. "Master?"

"I do not wish for you to dwell on your missing practice. Drawing requires focus and will distract you from your thoughts."

He did not want to but he also wasn't about to be rude. He bowed and left the dojo. Draw his brothers as he saw them? Why didn't his Sensei just tell him to draw? He found his instructions odd and a bit sad that he wasn't even going to be allowed to stretch or watch his brothers. 1:07 p.m. He finally sat down at the kitchen table with his pencil and paper.

He tapped the pencil against the table. His eyes were narrowed and looking determinedly at the blank piece paper. How _did_ he see brothers? He knew he loved them and that when fighting they worked together so perfectly. He saw Mikey as the hiding-how-smart-he-really-was goofball, Raph as the impulsive but free-to-act-hot-head, and Don as the pacifistic-genius who would rather help the world by thinking.

He didn't want to just draw his brother's though. He wanted to include his whole family. He thought about them. He saw Splinter as the wise father who would do anything to save his children, April as the curious answer-seeker who knew how to take care of herself, and Casey as the vigilante who just wanted to put the smack-down on crime and hang with his girl and his friends…in other words; relax and enjoy life.

But there was still more people to add. He saw Angel as the rough-and-tough girl who had a heart of gold, Leatherhead as the gentlest soul that was weighed down with the weight of his past but still inventing and living, and Usagi as a quiet protector who could stand still in time to take in just a breath of life. He even saw Professor Honeycutt who he saw as a man making the best of the worst in a body he just wasn't used to and sacrificing it for others.

Thinking of all them he also thought of the Ancient One, Master Yoshi, and even Traximus. He saw the Ancient One as one who could deceive the shadows, beat down the worst of the monsters, and still be himself, Master Yoshi as the honorablest of men who had made the greatest sacrifice even with a soft soul. He saw Traximus as a goal-obtainer willing to take risks just for the heck of it.

He never realized how many friends he and his brothers had had. And there was still more to go. He remembered the Ninja Tribunal and their fellow acolytes, their personalities, and the animals that their souls had taken. He was even tempted to put Karai in his picture. They had left each other on a good note and they did have quite a past together. In the end he decided that he should add her. He even put an Elite and Chaplin behind her, supporting her, with a few normal foot ninja faces floating around her feet.

He studied his picture. As an afterthought he started putting more people in. The strange alien girl they had met in the forest, the one that Don had seemed to develop a small crush on. Then he added Quarry and the others whose faces from that underground world he could remember well enough. He had them popping up with a dazzling light surrounding them, out of the creatures they were cruelly turned into.

Finally he added himself. He saw himself as their protector. That was it. Nothing more, well besides their friend, brother, or son. Their protector; that's what he was. So he placed himself in the top left corner, looking over a cloud, katana at the ready, prepared to kill anything that threatened them.

3:54 p.m. He had a hand cramp but he was finally finished and fairly proud of his work. He had added little color. Some yellow for some of the lights, each of his brother's masks and his mask. A few random colors in the open spaces where nothing was drawn but that was it.

He had drawn most of his family as what he thought of them. So when he said Mikey was a smart goofball he had drawn a bouncy ball with a silly grin on its face, a graduation cap on, and of course his mask. Lots of metaphorical stuff. His brothers had been dismissed quite a while ago.

He could hear Mikey, Raph, and even Don yelling at the T.V. screen, playing some video game. It used to be just two people could play-which had caused lots of fights, but a trip to the dump one night had changed that. They had found a game system that was quite new with four working controllers inside. Even the demo game was still a part of the system. Some parent out there must have bought their spoiled child the game system, only to throw it out when it was pointed out that it wasn't the newest system out there. Or at least that's what Donnie had hypothesized. Knowing Donatello…he was most likely correct.

He left the kitchen, precious picture in hand, and didn't see his Sensei. He knocked on Master Splinter's door. Sure enough a reply came.

"Enter, my son." He did just that.

"I finished and I thought you might want to look at it." He was completely nervous but his father had assigned him it so he deserved to see it.

"Only if you wish to share it."

"I do," and oddly enough, he did. He wasn't looking for praise, though it would be nice, but he wanted to know what his father thought of it. He handed Master Splinter the picture he had worked so hard on.

Master Splinter rarely liked to show his emotion so he was ecstatic when Master Splinter reacted like he did. "This is absolutely fantastic Leonardo! I see you put a lot of work into this and included many, many people." He handed him his work back. "I would keep that in a safe place, my son."

He nodded, happy with himself, and forgetting that he had been assigned the drawing to keep his mind off practice, and it had indeed worked. He walked back out into the living room, after he had bowed to Master Splinter, and contemplated telling his brothers about the drawing. He looked at it again. Nah. He was afraid of their reactions, even if his Sensei's had been wonderful. He was also afraid that they would be offended by how he saw them. So, instead he marched up to his room and placed the drawing safely on his book shelf in between two of his books.

4:06 p.m. He thought about doing a secret practice session in his room (the distraction had already fled now that he had hidden the drawing) and was just about to begin when he heard a knock on his door. He froze and adapted a deer caught in headlights look before realizing he hadn't done anything wrong in his room yet-even if he had practiced earlier it wasn't in his room…

"Come in," he said while walking to the door to open it. It was Don.

"I'd like to check your bandage. And ask you some more questions. I think I have an answer but I need to make sure."

He was excited at the prospect of answers so he nodded. "Sure."

The two turtles made their way to Don's lab. Mikey, Raph, and Master Splinter were already there. They must have realized something was up. He smiled at them and Don shook his head, but in an 'I knew you'd be here' way. Leo sat on the bed again. Don unwrapped his bandages and inspected his plastron. Luckily he had remembered to remove the bandage and wipe the little bit of dried blood off earlier. He looked down at his plastron as everyone else in the room did also.

Don ran his hands over the biggest crack. It tickled him a bit but there was still no pain. Don looked at his face and he shook his head to the silent question. Donnie then grabbed his clipboard again.

"Okay, I have a few theories but they have some gaps in them…so. Did you mix the powder with anything? Did you inhale it? What?"

It was a hard question; he had to think about it. Mikey couldn't stand his silence though and broke through it with his normal Michelangelo babbling.

"Well didja!?" Mikey promptly received a smack to the back of his head courtesy of his temperamental brother.

"He's thinking Mikey, give him a second."

"Ummm…I think I remember sneezing. I might have used the hand that was covered in powder to put over my mouth. So I might have inhaled some of it then… And I do know I washed my hands, so it was definitely mixed with soapy water."

Don nodded thoughtfully. "Okay. Sit still and let me run a few tests. And before you ask; yes, you are allowed to stay. But don't touch anything!" A pointed look was sent Mikey's way.

"What? Why do you always blame me?"

"Cause it's always your fault!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

4:09 p.m. He decided to break up the fight as Don had left to gather some things when the fight first broke out and Master Splinter just sat there, too tired at the moment to break up the fight unless it came to blows or cussing.

"Raph! Mikey! Raph it is you sometimes. Mikey most of the time it's you."

"It is not," came his younger brother's protest at the rescue that had turned against him in the end.

"Yeah it is! Leo just told you it is!"

"Hey, he blamed you too!"

"He blamed you more!"

"If you guys keep this up I'm going to kick you out of this lab and not let you know what's going on!"

The threat worked. Mikey settled for sticking his tongue out at his red-banded brother. Raph settled for glaring at Mikey until the carefree goofball was forced to look away. The glare was just too strong for him. 4:12 p.m. Don re-entered his own lab.

In his hands he had a small beaker like thing of soapy water, probably from the kitchen and a thing of pepper. He took out another container and the container that held the bright green powder.

"Whoa!"

"Holy shell Don. Could you have made it any brighter?"

"Well, one of the ingredients that I needed to make it stronger caused it to turn this green," the bo-wielding turtle said in defense. "Now be quiet for a sec." They shut up and eagerly watched Don's every movement.

First he added a small amount of the powder to the soapy water. He mixed it with a straw like thing and let it sit for a few moments. Next he rubbed some of it on a rat that he pulled from a cage that they hadn't noticed before.

"Whoa…Donnie. You testin' your crap on animals?" He could tell Raph didn't like this.

"No. This guy kept sneaking into my lab and getting mildly electrocuted. I didn't know how to try this stuff out and he seemed to jump into it. I kept him here since I didn't want him to keep getting electrocuted. He volunteered for this, and it doesn't hurt him. Now shush."

He could tell Raph still didn't look okay with it. In fact no one in the room really did. He guessed that Don treated the rat nicely though, unlike testing labs. Though he didn't like it he would trust Don. Although he didn't know how it wasn't going to hurt the rat if Don was testing the stuff to see if it was painless. Don set the rat down on the desk. The rat immediately ran for an electric socket. It was if the thing had a death wish. The rat poked its nose in the socket and received a small shock that couldn't have hurt much. The rat jumped and ran back to Don making small squeaking sounds.

"I thought so…" Something was written on the clipboard paper.

Donnie washed the rat off. Then he turned to Mikey. Mikey seemed to read his mind.

"No way dude! Whatever you're planning I object!"

"It could save Leo…"

"But if he can't feel pain he isn't in danger, right?"

"That is not true, my son."

"Gulp. Fine. But can I name your rat?"

"Sorry Mikey but I already named him. But we'll all call you hero, right guys?"

"You already named the thing? And no way am I going to call Mikey a hero!"

"Whadja name it Don?"

"I really appreciate this Mikey! You're my new hero."

"Why would you tell him that? We don't even know what he has to do yet!"

"Bafe."

"What?" "Huh?" "Come again." "Are you alright, my son?"

"The rat's name is Bafe. It stands for Benjamin Albert Franklin Einstein."

"Bafe huh? What the shell is wrong with you Donnie?"

"Well it sounded better than Abef. Still does actually."

"Wait, Don, what do I have to do?"

"Sneeze…into this container."

"EW!" "Gross Don!" "Are you going to rub it on the r…Bafe afterwards?"

"One at a time guys! And no…I am going to feed it to Bafe. But Bafe fully understands and recognizes these risks and grossness's. Besides, Leo said he sneezed on his hand and the soap and water thing didn't work!"

"So poor Bafe's going to have to eat Mikey snot?"

"Pretty much."

"Wait. Don; Bafe's a rat. How can he understand and recognize the risks? … No offense Mastah Splintah." Raph looked a bit confused and flustered.

"None taken, my son."

"Can we just get this on with please," Don was impatient now. So was he but this was Don's territory so he was going to stay silent-for the most part.

"Dude…do I really have to sneeze into the container," Mikey whined.

Don's exasperated sigh answered his question. Mikey sighed and resigned himself to the fact that he was going to have to basically snort pepper and sneeze into a container so a rat named Bafe could eat it. Raph looked away. Seeing the nun-chuck wielding turtle's snot in a container was not something any of them really wanted to see. Even Master Splinter looked towards a wall. He set his eyes on Bafe and studied him.

Mikey whined as pepper was thrown at him. He could tell Mikey was just setting a mind block up for himself. Now he would have to listen to more of Don's coaxing, Mikey's whining, Raph's fake swearwords (Sensei was present after all), and Sensei trying to help Don coax. Through all of it Bafe was squeaking. He didn't like it as much as the rat didn't like it. He wasn't the one that would have to eat Mikey's snot though. He gave an involuntary shudder. It _was_ disgusting.

Then finally it came. "A-A-A-CHOOO!" Mikey sneezed. He didn't dare look at the container but apparently Raph did.

"Eww! Mikey, that's absolutely disgusting!"

"Oh shut up Mister I'm-not-the-one-who-probably-just-saved-Leo's-butt!"

"Oh whatever! All you did is sneeze. You just recreated what happened to Leo to Bafe!"

"Donnie! Why would you make me do such a thing?"

"If I know how the powder works then I can find a cure."

"Ha! So there Raph."

"Michelangelo! Raphael! Cease your fighting, please." Seemed like the two's almost constant bickering was making him more tired than he already was.

"Sorry Sensei." "Sorry Mastah Splintah." Both Raph and Mikey looked down at their feet.

Leo shook his head and turned it to Don. The brainy turtle had mixed the lime green powder with Mikey's snot and dipping some cheese into it. Donnie offered the cheese to Bafe who took it and ate it all. Once again he ran to the socket, same one as before, and stuck his nose in it. Once again he got shocked. Bafe didn't react. 4:37 p.m. The reason why he couldn't feel any pain had been found.

"Duuude…no way…"

"Oh, gross! I definitely am not using that if I have to eat it after it's been sneezed in!"

"Wow and of course not Raph," Something else was scribbled onto the clipboard paper. "Bafe! Stop that! Just because you can't feel it doesn't mean it's not happening." While they were all reacting in their different ways Bafe had been sticking his nose in the socket again and again, appearing to enjoy the feeling he was now feeling.

Don scooped Bafe up and set him back in his cage, along with some new, cleaner cheese, and some water.

"Okay. This is good guys, very good. Now if everyone could leave so I can work on a cure…"

"Of course, my son." Master Splinter ushered all of them but Don out of the lab.

They each gave him a worried look but went on to do their own activity. Master Splinter smiled kindly at him and slowly hobbled towards his room without his cane. Mikey laughed, made a lame joke that he didn't listen to, and flipped over the couch to return to his superhero movie marathon. Raph lightly punched him in the shoulder, he thought, and went to the dojo to beat the crap out of the wooden dummy they had.

He smiled to himself thinking about them each as he went to his room. His chest felt lighter since Don hadn't reapplied the bandage. He entered his room and took two seconds to decide that he needed another work out. He already had a space set out; he'd always had, just in case he didn't want to practice in the dojo. He decided on practicing without the use of his katana's. He laid them on his bed and began to workout but making sure he took it easier than he had that morning.

5:13 p.m. He was now lightly meditating. He was lucky. His workout had not caused the cracks on his plastron to widen or bleed or anything of the like. He breathing reluctantly slowed and he let his mind drift into a small trance.

7: 43 p.m. The insistent knocking on his door just wouldn't stop. He opened his eyes, annoyed at being interrupted. Not that he had been meditating. No, he had fallen asleep a while ago. Not that it was that comfortable but the sleep had also made him feel good…until the knocking had started. He grumpily pushed himself up and opened the door to find Mikey's smiling face inches away from his own. Not that his was smiling.

"Dude! We called you for dinner like half an hour ago. Sensei said you were resting and to let you rest but he also said you should eat now. So come on sleepy head! There's still turtles at the table so you won't be lonely!"

Mikey grabbed his hand before he could open his mouth and he found himself being led into the kitchen. Splinter was not there. He must have retired to his room already. Don was there, writing things down in a notebook. Raph was there, picking at the remains of his food. And now Mikey and him were there. He sat in his normal seat and shot a grateful smile in Mikey's direction. Mikey seemed to have cleaned his plate and was now piling more food onto it. He shook his head at his little brother's ability to eat so much and plopped some food onto his plate.

Tonight's dinner consisted of spaghetti with meat sauce, garlic bread, and cheesecake. He didn't know when Mikey had picked up the cheesecake but it was okay since he did like cheesecake. The conversation was scarce but there were no awkward silences. Finally Raph stood up and spoke up. 8:16 p.m.

"If we're going to go patrolling we should leave now. And Leo?"

"Yeah," he replied, already knowing what Raph was going to tell him.

"Mastah Splintah said yer not ta come."

"Fine," his disappointment shown with a sigh. "I'll put the dishes and stuff away Mikey."

"Thanks dude!" Another sigh occurred within the underground kitchen. This time it came from the youngest, not the oldest, and was a sigh of relief, not of disappointment.

8:21 p.m. His three younger brothers were ready and heading out the door. He wished them luck, asked them if they had their shell cells (the answer was yes's all around), and reminded them to watch out for the Grape Bones which set Mikey into another fit of laughter. He felt bad for Don; having to deal with the bickering brothers by himself. He shook his head, saddened by the fact he wasn't allowed out on patrol. He made his way back to the kitchen and washed and put everything away.

8:28 p.m. He gave a wistful look towards the lair door but walked towards the T.V. set. He switched it on and flipped it to the nightly news. Liz Talles-Dounne's face filled the screen. Her soft voice filled the lair, both excitement and worry evident in it. He subconsciously leaned forward to hear better.

"This just in! The cops are narrowing down on a few members of the Grape Bones who just robbed a gas station and shot two customers and the guy behind the desk! I'm getting that there were six of them in the store, all girls…and, yes! The customers and the worker will be fine! An ambulance got to them in time!

"The two customers were cousins. A boy of about 27 and a girl of 28. The man working the register seems to be the worst off and is in his fifties. The young man and girl were both, luckily, just shot in the arm and leg. Well, the boy was shot in the leg and the girl in the arm." Liz's nervousness at having to do a live report was evident. "The older man was shot in the shoulder and unconscious but all right. This is all we have at the time. Back to you David!"

He leaned back, into the couch. He wondered if his brother's had been near. Probably not since the cops were involved and it seemed to be a chase. Still he had this feeling that something wasn't right and he couldn't shake it off, not matter how hard he tried to. Master Splinter's slid door open and he could feel his Sensei's presence behind him.

"You sense that things are not going to be okay?" It wasn't a question but he answered anyway.

"Yes Master."

"So do I, my son."

8:37 p.m. He thought he would say more but a shrill ring cut through Master Splinter's next sentence. His shell cell! His fingers shook a bit and he fumbled trying to pick it up off the coffee table and answer it. He was finally rewarded with Raph's voice yelling at him.

"You gotta get down here or somethin' Fearless! We're on… Didja get that?" The shell cell crackled as if mocking him. Not letting him hear the most important information. Where to go.

His heart pounded hard against his chest. He couldn't feel pain but he sure could feel that. "No Raph, you're going to have to repeat that."

"I said: 11th and Bleeker!"

His Sensei took a look at his chest, gave him a look that said 'be careful, and nodded; letting him go. He quickly grabbed his katana and headed out the door. "I'm on my way! What happened Raph?"

"Sorry Fearless, can't talk now. Just get here and fast!" The shell cell crackled and died, silent when he didn't want it to be.

Tons of possibilities and what if's raced at a million miles per hour through his head. He knew at any other time it would give him a headache to have that many thoughts floating around but not now. He sprinted through the sewers, and a couple minutes later over the roofs, willing _all _of his brothers to be alright and ready to kill himself if one of them was seriously injured. He cursed himself from low shell to high heaven for knocking Don's experiment over and getting himself into this danged mess.

8:43 p.m. It seemed like time was against him and making him take forever in getting to his brothers but finally he was there. And almost gave a sigh of relief. None of his brother's was seriously or fatally injured or dead. He unsheathed his swords and flipped down into the alley way. There may have been no bad injuries but that didn't mean the situation was good.

He didn't know how it had happened but his brothers had run into a gang of, he did a quick head count including those knocked out (three), sixteen members. He came up behind one and saw the tattoo. It did in fact look like a bunch of grapes making up two crossed bones, and it was on the base of a young women's neck. The Grape Bones. Mikey had laughed but they had only knocked three out so far and had called for their non-pain feeling, injured brother as back-up.

He viciously brought the sword down on the brunette's head as Don's bo slammed into her stomach; taking her out of the game. They knew he was here though. He studied their fighting style, quickly though, and they were good. Enough to overwhelm his brothers when their numbers where right. Two immediately came at him. An older looking blonde rushed him with a sharp knife that, by the looks of it, had seen fights before. It was bloody. Another brunette that could have been no older than seventeen rushed his other side, small pistol in hand. He didn't know why she didn't shoot at him but he was glad.

He waited for just a moment, and then jumped up to a split kick. The younger girls nose fell victim to his foot but the older lady ducked out of the way and brought her knife up, hoping to stab him in the calf muscle. He twisted his leg to the side though, bringing his other one around to know be even with her head. She stood back up. His foot got caught on her shoulder and he was forced to sort for fall sort of flip backwards.

Another girl, this time a redhead popped up to replace the young brunette he had kicked. The blonde lunged at him again. He watched the redhead with his peripheral vision. She stood to the side, waiting for her chance. He sidestepped the blonde and threw her into the wall. She let out a grunt as she hit and slid down the wall on her own. He ducked to avoid the oncoming redhead who ran straight into the wall.

She was made of tougher stuff than the blonde though. She pushed herself backwards onto him with her hands. He fell with her on top of him. He quickly rolled over so she would be under him. He felt a slight tingling in his thigh. No time to see what it was. He located her pressure point and she was out.

He looked up for a second a noticed his brothers were definitely doing better than before he arrived. There were five newly knocked out girls on the ground. That left four of the Grape Bones. One for each of them.

He squared off against a girl who looked to be in her mid-thirties, jet black hair cut short, armed with a gun and a small, jagged dagger, and green eyes staring at his leg. He allowed himself to look down. Shell. A lone sai, albeit old and worn, was stuck in thigh. Must have been from the redhead, the tingling he felt.

He looked up just in time to see the black haired girl just inches from him. He yanked the sai out of his leg and met her knife with it. She gave an animal like roar and pressed closer. He felt the cool tip of the barrel being pressed to his stomach. She was hoping to distract him with her knife and roar and then kill him. He would give her no such win. He pushed against her with all his might, let out a roar of his own and with his free hand grabbed her gun hand…and squeezed it so hard he heard a crunching sound. The gun clattered to his feet as the women let out a strangled yelp and fell to her knees. He brought his knee to her chin and hit it hard. She dropped like a rock.

He looked up. Mikey was just finishing a young girl with bright purple and pink hair. Raph was watching him and Don was checking the pulses of the ladies nearest to him. Mikey was done. Don nodded at him. Those he had already checked would live.

"You sure made it out here fast Fearless."

"Well you scared the shell offa me Raph."

"Yeah, well…sorry about that. It just took us all by surprise that they were so good and we were having trouble knocking them out…and sixteen is divisible by four, but not by three."

"Big gasp! Raphie can divide?" Mikey pretended to be shocked. He didn't know why Mikey couldn't just gasp instead of saying it.

"Don't call me that!"

"What? Raphie or stupid?"

"Mikey…" Raph growled threateningly.

"Guys…" He didn't really try to stop them. They would fight anyway.

Don stepped carefully over a few girls to get to him. Don quickly looked him up and down. It was dark out and a little hard to see. Donatello felt his plastron, so did he. No blood.

"You're bleeding."

"Yeah, I got stabbed. Just felt a little tingly."

"Good thing is it doesn't look to bad. We could wrap it with gauze here while those two bozo's," Don said pointing to Raph and Mike, "called the cops. No harm done really."

"Sounds goo-" He was cut off by the barely hearable click of a gun.

9:14 p.m. He turned around feeling like he was in slow motion, while trying to push Don out of the way. The first girl he had knocked out, the young brunette, was trembling but had her gun pointed at Don's chest. Pushing his way out of slow motion he shoved Don out of the way and felt the right side of his body go twisting in a direction he hadn't told it to and his shoulder twitched. It felt like Raph had given him a buddy-buddy punch in the shoulder only he was off balance so he fell with it.

Suddenly Don was above him asking him something. He realized Don looked worried and decided he should answer so Don wouldn't have to look so worried.

"-alright? Come on Leo; answer me! Please don't be in shock!"

"Don; I can't feel any pain; remember? I'm alright. Are you alright?"

"What the shell is wrong with you Leo!? You just got shot and you're asking if Don's alright. Yes he's bloody alright! He wasn't the one who was bloody shot!" Raph's worried face joined his. He realized the young girl had probably met with a quick but unpleasant fate if Raph was hovering above him.

Mikey's face joined his other brother's faces. He looked just as worried as Don and Raph. Also a bit relieved that he was speaking and seemed to be okay.

"I was asking because she was aiming at Donnie. And I believe I was asking Don that question; not you. Now I have to ask another. Is that girl alright?"

"Yeah Leo, I'm fine. Look we really gotta get you home. I don't have the stuff I need here to fix you up."

Mikey looked over his shoulder, probably at the young brunette. "Umm…sure Leo. The girls fine…as long as the cops get here fast enough," he mumbled and that's what he thought he said. But he couldn't be sure. "We have to go anyway guys. I've already called the cops!"

"Shell," was Raph's only reply.

"Okay, I know you're not feeling any pain Leo but we're still going to help you-to make sure nothing tears to much or anything. Raph; help me help him up. Mikey; you open the manhole and go down first. You can help us get him down from below." Don ordered, his calm face trying to mask the fact that he was worried…about him. He felt bad for making them all worry so much.

His youngest two brothers complied easily enough with Don's orders. Unfortunately fate had other plans than to let him escape with just a bullet to the shoulder. As Raph was helping him up he noticed that the blonde who had attacked with the young brunette was no longer slumped where he had last seen her. He opened his mouth to warn his brothers but…

"Shush Leo! We need to conserve your energy. You may not feel pain but your body is leaking out blood that it needs!"

"But…" He didn't get any further.

This time he wasn't interrupted by his brother but by a guttural yell. Raph swore, let go of him, and turned around. He wasn't about to get attacked and not even see it. He yanked his good arm out of Don's grasp and turned around. The sight that greeted him was not one he wished to see. The blonde had pulled out two new knives and had one sticking out of Raph's shoulder. He swore in his mind but not out loud.

He acted quickly, before Mikey had time to reach for him or Don to recover from him escaping his grasp. He used his good hand to unsheathe his katana-he knew that if he used his not so good hand Don would kill him-and for the second time that night shoved a brother out of danger's way. He thought he heard Raph swear at him as he swung his katana around to meet with the girl's shoulder.

9:22 p.m. He felt a tickling and itching on his stomach and at the same time the two feelings were not pleasant. He assumed he had been punched. His katana brought the woman to the ground though…where Raph's foot violently connected with her head, making a cracking sound. She was definitely out of the game.

Even though he felt no pain he was still brought to his knees. He was barely aware of his three younger brothers surrounding him. Their voices seemed to shout and echo in his head. He couldn't make out whatever they were saying though. Darkness threatened to take a hold of his vision but he tried to fight it back. He just had to figure out what his brothers were so desperately asking him so he could answer and they wouldn't have to worry.

Finally he accepted the fact that he wouldn't be able to answer his brothers. He felt bad about it but there was really nothing he could do about it. With a bit of shock he realized why he was having such a hard time with things. He assumed the blonde had only punched him…but she had had a knife in each of her hands.

It was ironic. While his brother's were swearing, thinking out loud, and on the verge of tears trying desperately to wake him up and get him out of there before the cops showed up he was the one with frivolous thoughts. It was weird that the first two ladies he fought with and knocked out were the ones to severely injure him. For some reason he was completely amused with the fact that the females it had started with had also been ended with. That and the fact that usually he was the one warning his brother's about this kind of stuff and how it could so easily happen. That he trained so hard to avoid these things. And tonight two of the things he always feared his brother's would go through was what he was going through…and he couldn't even feel it. Those were his last thoughts, thoughts of how weird this whole experience was, before the blackness and the blanket of unconsciousness swallowed him whole.

* * *

"-awake?"

"-don't think so."

"Is that a-"

"-sure?"

"Well, it can't-"

* * *

10:01 p.m. _Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. _He groggily listened to the sounds around him. Besides the annoying beeping he heard a heavy breathing and a raspy sound. Whatever the rasping was it didn't sound too good.

"Leo? Shell bro, are you actually up?"

He recognized that voice. It belonged to one of his brothers. The heavy breathing was gone now; replaced by much more silent breathing which he could barely hear over the raspy, wheezing noise and the beeping combined. _Beep. Beep. Beep._ He struggled for a good intake of air. The raspy sound became strangled. He realized it was his own breathing.

"Leo? Are you okay? Just nod if you are…oh shell, please answer bro."

It hit him. He had been stabbed and shot and he must be in the lab. Raph was here because he was watching over him. Raphael was talking to him. Only he couldn't answer. He didn't even know how to nod. He sucked in noisily trying though.

"Leo! Don't do anything to hurt yourself. I'm gonna go get Don."

Ninja footsteps made a soft pitter-patter as they left. He had never realized just how quiet their footsteps could be. Tears tried to well up in his eyes. _Beep. Beep. Beep._ He felt some substance of liquid near his throat. But most of all he felt pain. In the midst of his incomprehensible thoughts he knew the powder had worn off. There was no cure. Perhaps it was because of all he had gone through. _Beep. Beep. Beep._ Perhaps it was all he wouldn't go through. _Beep. Beep. Beep._ Perhaps it was just that he was tired and it was the simplest thing he could think of. Donnie wouldn't have been looking for a cure. Donatello would have thought of it as a blessing to his brother…and the tech turtle would have been busy helping him. _Beep. Beep. Beep._

He didn't care about anything else at that moment except to let his brother know that the powder just wore off. Maybe it was because he knew he wouldn't be able to tell the bo-wielding turtle any other time. _Beep. Beep. Beep._ It could have been because he was happy it was he that found the answer. _Beep. Beep. Beep._ But deep in the subconscious part of his mind he knew it was because it could be of future help to his brothers and that he _wouldn't_ be able to let them know otherwise. _Beep. Beep. Beep._

Ninja footsteps also made a soft pitter-patter when they came. He rasped again and this time felt the liquid bubble up and escape out of his mouth.

"Oh my god, no. Raph how long has he been breathing blood?" His purple wearing brother was here. He could tell him what he knew.

"He wasn't doing it before I got you. Don…is that a bad thing?"

"Go get everyone else. They should…they should be here." He could tell his brother was upset. It made him feel bad. _Beep. Beep. Beep._ He still had to tell Donnie though.

"Leo; can you hear me?"

"Don…I can…feel." _Beep. Beep. Beep._

"Leo…save you breath," a strangled sob-he thought, "and your energy. Just hold on till everyone can get here."

_Beep. Beep. Beep._ He still had more to say.

"Leo. I…I love ya Leo." Poor Mikey; he sounded sad. He thought the orange wielding turtle might be crying.

"I didn't say it enough, but you were my brothah. I love you bro." Raph also sounded sad. Why were they all sad? It didn't make sense to him. He never wanted his brothers to be sad. He liked it when they were happy.

"Leo…I don't know what to say. I love you. I'm sorry I couldn't do more for you." Was that a hint of guilt he heard in his brother's voice? He hoped not.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

"I love you my son. Go peacefully." He felt a furred hand on his forehead. It reminded him of when he was little and he would get sick. He wasn't sick. Why was Master Splinter comforting him? His family was the ones who needed comforting. They all sounded so heart-broken.

"Guys…"

"Don' speak Leo. Save yo breath."

"My son; let him speak. Go ahead…my son."

"I love…you all…so, so…much." Another hard breathe to breath. "Don…the powder…it just…wore off. Take…care of…each…other. Love…much…and live…life…with happ-" Too much liquid welled up in his mouth. A coughing fit took place. Three hands helped him sit up and one hand placed itself soothingly on his head. With much difficulty he opened his eyes. He didn't know why but the pain intensified as soon as he did. He let out a soft moan and someone let loose a sob. Liquid dribbled down his chin. He forced himself to look at them, ignoring the pain as best as he could.

"With happ…piness. Don't…forget me…but don't…dwell…on the…the past…and the…what…if's. I'll…always…be with…you. At all times…in…in your…heart."

_Beep. Beep. Beep._ His family was crying openly now. He could feel their tears fall onto his body. The pain forced his eyes closed. His stomach felt like it had been cruelly torn from his body, chopped up, and placed in a blender. His shoulder was throbbing, and now salty water was leaking from his eyes also. _Beep. Beep. Beep._

He tried, mostly for his brothers and his father, to take another breath. His eyes squeezed tightly. He could hear his family muttering something to him. He hoped t was that they loved him or something nice like that. _Beep. Beep. Beep._ There was too much coppery tasting liquid in his mouth. The air just wouldn't come through. He sucked harder and harder, searching for air. It was like it was playing a game of tag with him and he was losing. Only this game of tag was deadly…and losing meant losing more than just a game. He was barely aware of tapping on his back, and many strong arms wrapped around him, and the fact that his legs were soaking wet. He tried to open his eyes, one last time, to look at his family and give them solace.

_Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee… _10:13 p.m.

* * *

Phew. This was the longest thing I've ever written (28 pages)! I'm excited! And I'm fairly happy with it, even if it may not have been what Efi meant when she gave the challenge. But oh well.

Also; I'd love to see if the results if anyone attempted to draw Leo's drawing (of course creative license would be granted)…though I doubt anyone would be that insane.

Anyway…I'd really love feedback on this story. Critiques will be welcomed with a hug. Of course any reviews are wonderful…


End file.
